Doos bij de miniatuurordetekens van Willem Drees 1950 - 1988

Editor: We're looking at a photograph titled "Doos bij de miniatuurordetekens van Willem Drees," dating between 1950 and 1988. It depicts a box, perhaps containing miniature medals. I find the presentation rather mundane; what's your take on it? Curator: What immediately grabs my attention is the *objecthood* of this unassuming box. Think about its means of production: the labor involved in creating the cardboard, printing the design, and assembling the final product. How does this ordinary object become imbued with significance simply by association with a powerful figure like Willem Drees? Editor: That’s a good point. So, you’re saying its value shifts because of its contents, the miniature medals? Curator: Precisely. Consider the context of post-war Netherlands. Drees was a key figure in rebuilding the welfare state. This box, potentially holding symbols of national recognition, speaks volumes about the construction of national identity through material culture and its link to labor. How does mass production intersect with the bespoke nature of commendation? Editor: So it's less about the *aesthetics* of the box and more about what it *represents* in terms of manufacturing, history, and social standing? The print medium flattens any aura that might have accrued? Curator: Exactly. We are looking at how meaning is constructed through the relationship between mundane materials, mass production and historical narrative. Do you find the photography important here as another medium? Editor: Absolutely. The print creates distance, even objectivity to its mass manufacture; it is still-life after all, elevating a common object and demanding that we look. Curator: I agree, a good end point. Editor: Thanks, I learned so much about boxes today.